


Deepest Depths

by clusband



Category: Hiveswap
Genre: Bad Mental Health Day Recovery, Fluff, Other, feel better fic, i hope that tag makes sense lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-02-09 08:45:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18634762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clusband/pseuds/clusband
Summary: You wake up with your mind all a-fuzz, the world spinning around you.(Request from my tumblr- Marvus + a poolside kiss. Cleaned this up, added a few details, and posted it here!)





	Deepest Depths

It’s one of those difficult mornings again- the fuzzy blur of your thoughts, the distant hum of the world.

You remove yourself from Marvus’s hold with a small twinge of guilt. The lack of the weight of his arm solidly around your waist leaves you feeling a little unhinged from the world, like you just removed the ballast from your hot air balloon and you’re floating quickly and quietly away. Scooting up to the edge of the couch, you rest your head in your hands, and take one deep breath in. One deep breath out. Words fill your mind, something from a self help book, or from chittr, or… somewhere. Your senses- you have to anchor back into this world.

Five things you can see. You pick your head up from your hands and open your eyes. Your feet are clad in socks that Marvus gifted to you. One sock has carousel horses on it, the other is purple with multi-colored polka dots. You remove them, warmed through with sleep and a little sweaty. You pick your head up some more, staring straight ahead. Marvus’s desk; his husktop's low battery light is blinking with urgency. The headphones are still plugged in and the surface of his desk is littered with leftover takeout and snacks. You remember him showing you some of the tracks he’s producing last night. He sang his songs, and you sang your praises. His smile was wide and flattered on his face. You turn to look at him, your heart warm with a sudden, fond love for him.

One of his legs is draped over the couch, wearing your other carousel sock, comically small on his comparatively larger frame. The rest of his body is tangled in the blanket. You stifle laughter as you consider him. He looks like you threw him bodily onto the couch and he just went full rag-doll physics without adjusting himself. You search for his face, hesitating to touch him for fear of waking him, finally finding it if only for his horns. The stark contrast of his sleeping face versus the face he puts on for the world always startles you. Even in sleep, he somehow looks tired. You worry briefly over the dark circles under his eyes, the tired droop of his expression. The view from the window shows the moons, just starting to rise slow and sleepy above the horizon.

Four things you can smell. The oil that Marvus puts in his hair fills your lungs as you take your first, deep breath: it's spicy and sweet, like warm sands and wildflowers. The takeout on his desk comes second: stale and greasy and savory. With a small grunt, you open the window to sweeten the stale air of the room. Salted air stirs the scents around in his room, a miasma of stale bodies and the cool breeze from the sea side. And fresh fish- your nose wrinkles as you recognize the metallic scent of blood. His lusus must be awake, out and about.

Three things to touch. You run your hand through Marvus’s hair; it’s coarse but smooth like wire. His head follows the motion of your hand in his sleep, and he grumbles a pleased little sound low in his belly as you scratch at his scalp. You continue your motion, running your hand down his arm, his skin soft and pliant. It reminds you of a peach. You find his hand, lacing your fingers with his as your lips find the soft skin of his temple. And you kiss him. And you breathe him in. And all’s right with the world again.

Two things you can hear. With your face so close to his, Marvus’s slow, even breathing is loud in your ear.  You would be amazed that you haven’t woken him up yet if you hadn’t caught the sounds of his snoring. He must be pretty sleepy- you hope he slept well through the day. Water splashes outside, loudly enough to startle you. An idea strikes you: you want to go swimming.  

You stand slowly, watching in amusement as Marvus twists and turns on the couch, getting more tangled in his blanket as he searches for you. The pillow that your head was resting on is still slightly warm with your body heat. With a quick sleight of hand, you sneak it close to his chest. This settles him, his arms wrapping tight around it as he buries his face in the plush fabric. You guess maybe he can smell you on it. He looks so snuggly and cozy that, for a fleeting moment, you think about joining him. But your mind was so foggy this morning, and more sleep is the last thing you need.

Instead, you pad your way over to his closet, put on a swimsuit, and make your meandering way outside. The flowers are budding, all pink and white, yellow and purple. Even though the sun has left the world almost oppressively hot, you take some time to imagine what they’ll look like when they bloom. Sweat drips from your body onto the bed of flowers almost instantly.

There’s a pool that wraps all the way around Marvus’s hive. Out by the cliffs, he’s extended it by adding a glass bottom, perilously high above the sea below you. Water cascades out of the side and down the cliffs into the open ocean. It’s here that you find his lusus.  

He clicks and chirps happily at your presence, lumbering over towards you and nudging his head into your hand to encourage you to pet him. You dip one foot into the water, then the other with a rush of relief. Slowly, you slide all the way in, pulling your head underwater and staying there for a few heartbeats. There’s a splash that you recognize as Marvus’s lusus sliding into the water alongside you.

You bring your face above the water to take some deep breaths, and then you plunge yourself into the depths, delving deep in the water to touch at the bottom and opening your eyes to take in the view. You trail your fingers over the smooth slide of the glass. With the water around you, combined with the height of the cliffs, it almost feels like you’re flying. Floating.

Marvus’s lusus finds you, swimming circles around you and nudging you back up to the surface. You wonder what his deal is as you let the air in your lungs float you back up.

As you lie there, floating in the water, feeling the warmth of the moons against your skin, Marvus’s voice startles you back to reality.

“Hey babe,” he calls. He’s sitting at the edge of the pool, feet kicking lazily in the water. You delight in his bare face; he looks well rested for the first time in a while. He’s finishing a bag of some awful troll food that looks like a cross between popcorn and grubs, and his lusus is nuzzling him affectionately from behind. Marvus gives his chin a little scratch, and both of their faces light up with mischievous, matching grins.

“Good evening!” you yell back, swimming back from the middle of the pool to meet him at the edge.

“Gimme a kiss,” he says as he sets his food aside, his voice still heavy with sleep. You grab onto one of his ankles, kissing him on the knee. You’re so happy he’s awake, you’re so happy to see him.

“Hey- c’mon!” he laughs as you kiss his knees, his stomach, up on his shoulders and his neck and his cheeks, but avoid his lips. You’re laughing too, settling your forehead against his as he puts down his food and his hands find the back of your head, his thumb stroking away a drop of water that drips down your cheek. Another idea comes to you with a wicked grin. He pulls you into a kiss, breathing deep. And you pull him into you- his lusus catches on to your plans halfway through, thankfully, knocking into Marvus’s back to get him off balance with a peal of clicking squeaks that can only be laughter. Truth be told, you aren’t strong enough to pull Marvus anywhere, but with your combined efforts he’s falling into the water with you.

He grabs onto you, and whether it’s because he just wants to hold you or because he’s startled, you can’t really tell. You pull his arms out from around your waist, grabbing his wrist to pull him deeper into the depths. Above you, Marvus holds his back to the surface, his hair billowing around him like smoke. A spark of anxiety lights in your gut, remembering the magician you saw who disappeared with a puff of smoke. But Marvus stays with you, sinking deeper below the surface with you. And with the moons above him, he's ringed in an otherworldly light, almost unreal. So you hold him tighter, bringing your hand flat on his chest, and remind yourself that you're here, and you're here with him.  


End file.
